On Thursday evening, FIFA announced the eleven nominees for the 2025 World Footballer of the Year award. Unlike last year, no German made it onto the shortlist – but Bundesliga striker Harry Kane did.
Exactly one year ago, two Germans, Florian Wirtz and Toni Kroos, were among the candidates for the World Footballer award. The latter has long since hung up his boots, and Wirtz is also missing from this year’s FIFA shortlist. On Thursday evening, the world governing body announced the eleven names in contention for “The Best” award for the best player of the 2024/25 season, including the Club World Cup. Although no German professional made the list, one Bundesliga player did: Harry Kane. The 32-year-old Englishman, who plays for FC Bayern and was not considered for the World Footballer of the Year award last year, scored 26 goals in 31 league games last season, won the first major title of his career with the Bundesliga trophy, and also contributed 11 goals in 13 appearances to FC Bayern’s quarter-final run in the Champions League.
However, Kane, who finished 13th in the 2025 Ballon d’Or, is not among the top favorites for the World Footballer of the Year award. That honor goes to Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembelé, one of four PSG stars among the eleven nominees for “The Best” award.
Four from PSG, three from Barcelona
In addition to Dembelé (France), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), Nuno Mendes and Vitinha (both Portugal) from the Champions League winners are also represented in FIFA’s top 11. They are followed by four FC Barcelona professionals, of whom Lamine Yamal is likely to be Dembélé’s biggest challenger. Pedri (Spain) and Raphinha (Brazil) are also nominated, as are Kylian Mbappé (France and Real Madrid), Cole Palmer (England and Chelsea FC) and Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool FC).
The next World Footballer of the Year will be voted for not only by the coaches and captains of all 211 national teams of the FIFA member associations, but also by media representatives and fans. Voting is open until November 28.
Title chances for Flick, Berger, and Neuer
Three Germans can also hope to win an award, albeit not in the FIFA World Footballer of the Year or FIFA World Footballer of the Year awards. In the women’s category, it comes as no surprise that Ballon d’Or winner Aitana tops the list of nominees.
Instead, Hansi Flick is one of the seven nominees for the FIFA World Coach award, alongside Mexico’s national coach Javier Aguirre, Mikel Arteta (Arsenal), Luis Enrique (PSG), Enzo Maresca (Chelsea), Roberto Martinez (Portugal), and Arne Slot (Liverpool).
Germany’s national goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger is on the list of candidates for FIFA Women’s World Goalkeeper of the Year, while Bayern’s Manuel Neuer is in contention for the Men’s World Goalkeeper Award. The 39-year-old has already won the award five times in his career. Switzerland’s Yann Sommer (Inter Milan) has also made the shortlist, with the other nominees being Alisson Becker (Brazil and Liverpool), Thibaut Courtois ( Belgium and Real Madrid), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy and PSG, now Manchester City), Emiliano Martinez (Argentina and Aston Villa), David Raya (Spain and Arsenal), and Wojciech Szczesny (Poland and Barcelona).
